[3-21 Update] Dropbox Suspended the .img file due to excessive traffic thanks to LifeHacker/Twitter. I’ve just re-hosted the file, and the torrent magnet link is also running with numerous seeders!

What is NetPi?

NetPi started as a joke with my coworkers who gave me hell for always mentioning a custom Raspberry Pi as a solution to any problem that would arise. It became a project to attempt to build a network analyzer with comparable features to commercial solutions which can range over $1500. The project is open source, released under the GNU GPLv3 license. It runs on cheap hardware (the raspberry pi platform), and provides a large range of tools for network professionals and those new to the field. At this point, it likely is NOT a solution to replace a commercial product if it’s use would require guaranteed stability. It is, however, a fun project to get up and running, and can very likely be used in a home lab, school, hobby, or alongside a backup solution in commercial environments.

– Build a “Custom Hardware” page with install guides for any hardware components that are reported as not plug and play friendly.
– Ping Notro about touch issues between FBTFT and various touch screens– Await feedback on Bugs / User reports.

All custom developed scripts licensed under GNU GPL V3. Please provide attribution, but modify as you would like! Like The Project? Share this on Twitter or your social media platform of choice!

Build Guide

Ensure you read the supporting information below. If you would like to attempt to build this project without the provided IMG file, scripts and files (minus the OS) are available on the GitHub Repo. Keep in mind there are many battles to fight with Debian permissions to get everything tweaked just right.

Hardware Used:

16 GB Samsung MicroSD HC:AMAZON LINK – $15 – REQUIRED (Not necessarily this card, and size CAN vary, but it must be supported by the Raspberry Pi B+ (or 2 if you are using that board) as compatibility issues with MicroSD’s and the Pi is a real issue. See: http://elinux.org/RPi_SD_cards (NetPi uses Debian (Wheezy) as a Base OS)

JBtek 4in LCD Touch Panel:AMAZON LINK – $46 – REQUIRED* (Primarily to make the device self-sustainable. *You can use the devices HDMI port and opt to NOT get this touch screen depending on your use (home lab, etc.)

USB Battery Charger: AMAZON LINK Office Depot/Target/Online – $15-$20ish – OPTIONAL (Used to make the device self powered/sustainable. In general, any USB power brick should work, and you’ll want to pick the right size for this component based on how you want to “case” your NetPi.)

FAVI Micro USB Keyboard:AMAZON LINK – $10 – OPTIONAL – This keyboard is perfect if you need to do any typing (The Pi can use a USB to Serial and console into network devices)… However primary developed features should not require extensive typing, and an on-screen keyboard is opened in such cases automatically.

HDE 5.2in CASE:AMAZON LINK – $8 – OPTIONAL – How you case your NetPi is up to you. I have some photos below of this case as well as a cut/modified digital camera soft shell that I used (which turned out well and held the battery also. You really could build around the Pi with Lego’s as many others have done. This case referenced in the link provides good storage for a Keyboard as well if you decide to purchase it.

Mark. Yes, there are minimum voltage requirements with regards to the pi. Reading online states that “You should get something that supplies 5 volts (regulated) at 1A (or more current)”. With that said, I’ve run it on some small USB chargers, so there’s no harm in trying. You may notice when you connect an ethernet cable or other modules, something may drop for a second, or require reconnecting. I’ve only experienced it a few times and it was typically the wireless. Of course I had full sized keyboards and all sorts of things plugged in at the same time though.

Let me check and get back to you. The base OS is Debian (rasbian wheezy to be specific). However with that said, the wireless card I’m using was relatively plug and play without hassle. I can’t speak for the Realtek, but let me see what I can find! Is your email address valid?

Hi, Netpi start but after loading files the screen on HDMI is freezing but i can connect on the server with ssh. Is it possible to load a graphical interface on the HDMI ? Sorry for my english. Thanks.

You don’t have to apologize for your English. I probably can’t type as well as you on whatever your native language is. With that said, is the HDMI giving an error, or just going to a blinking cursor? Does it let you type with a keyboard attached? Usually I hear about issues with the LCD instead of the HDMI… so what model are you using? a Raspberry pi B / B+ / 2 ? I’ll try and help you out.

Hi, thank you for your reply. I got a blinking cursor. The keyboard don’t responding, i can’t type anything when it’s blinking. But the Pi is not crashed because i can use it with SSH. I tried it on a B with 512 Mo Ram. I’ll try on a pi 2 when the img will be released for this hardware.

Colin, Are you using a B or B+ board? I’ve just released an image for the Pi 2 board, however it loads fine on the B+ as well and I’m wondering about the B (I do not have one). Keep in mind though, that due to a kernel/rpi update, touch functionality of the LCD’s has broken. Looking for help in fixing this from community feedback. Will keep you posted.

I have the same issue. Using a pi 2 and the netpi2 beta. I have a waveshare 7″ HDMI screen 1024×600. the drivers work for raspbian jessie but here (after boot messages) simply produce a black screen with a white underscore in the top left. I can Ctrl-Alt-F2 to a login prompt but can’t seem to get desktop working.

[…] NetPi is an open source project in an attempt to build a network analyser with comparable features to commercial solutions. All you need is a Raspberry Pi B+ board, a microSD card and a JBtek 4in LCD touch panel. With a total cost of USD$86, you’ll get a network analyser equipped with CDP/LLDP, DIA diagram software, ping/trace/speed test tools, pen testing tools and more. That’s a fraction of the price for commercial solutions that can go over USD$1,500. The main purpose for the project is not to replace the commercial solutions but as a fun project for a home lab, school or a backup solution in commercial environments. Learn how to build your very own network analyser tool at Blame The Network. […]

I’m running into the same problem as madinfo on HDMI, it boots until it can’t find the TFTP backlight pins set, stops for about a minute then I get a black screen with a cursor that doesn’t flash.
I can SSH into the thing, it just won’t send video over HDMI

Jay, thanks for the bug report. If you can access /boot/cmdline.txt try changing the fbcon=map: option to 1 instead of whatever it’s set to. Also, if you can remote in, try using raspi-config from command line and set the boot to option for HDMI. I’m not sure either of these will solve your issue, and I’m looking into the reports.

I’m also having the problem of not being able to boot using the HDMI port instead of an LCD. I tried changing fbcon=map: option to 1 and that caused it to just hang altogether on boot. Do you know if anyone else has reported success using the HDMI port instead of the LCD you mentioned in your build?

HDMI woes here as well. Both a B+ and a Pi 2 board same result getting the 4 color bitmap display only while LCD works fine. This is with the fbcon=map:1 and before that change was the blinking cursor.

Very awesome idea! I’m going to attempt to make one of these in the next week or so. One cool idea might be adding the ability to use the device as a remote console adapter using something such as Bluetooth or Wifi. Something similar to https://www.get-console.com/airconsole/

Another cool idea might be adding the ability to automatically send those reports to Dropbox. That way there’s no need to connect to the device itself to grab the reports.

Hi. This project looks very interesting, but I have a pi 2 and keep looking to see if you have got the pi 2 image yet. Please, any idea yet when that image will be ready? Am I right in assuming that the current image will not work on the pi 2? – Thanks

Jim, I’m working that still. Turns out no matter what method I use to upgrade the kernel (because the current kernel will not boot on the RasPi 2 board), it causes the LCD module to break. I’m still working out bugs with this and will release as soon as I can. Unfortunately I was sent on a work trip and cannot finish this process until at least Thursday of this week. If you use Twitter, I’ll be posting there as well as a status update on this page. Sorry about the delay, I wanted to have that up already!

Completely understand!! Best luck with your trip. BTW, at least for the moment, was planning to use the NetPi through the HDMI port and/or VNC so the LCD is no big issue for me at the moment. Thanks for the quick reply. I do have a Twitter account but don’t use it – too many interruptions in my life already 🙂

I totally understand on the Twitter thing, if it weren’t for this project taking off I’d have no account. I’ll keep you updated via email with what I come up with, and duly noted on the non-windows solution for burning IMG to SD. I’ll update the page when I can with alternate OS options. Thanks for that heads up, I wouldn’t have even thought about it!

by the way I, like some others, I’m a Mac user so a requirement for Win based tools can be a problem. In my case, Fortunately, I’m running Windows 8.1 on the Mac (on Parallels) and have installed “Win32DiskImager” on that. We’ll see how that goes, but will also look to find the Mac equivalent for it. Thanks again

I don’t have the display and am using a USB KVM device. The systems starts to boot, but the last thing I see is a message saying fbtft_register_backlight(): led pin not set, exiting. The screen cleans, and all I have is a flashing cursor. I’m re-downloading the image and will re-burn to see if I have a bad image, but has anyone seen this before?

Well, not a bad copy. After a new download/install on to the SD card, I still have it hanging after the message. Can’t tell if this is the actual issue, however, as comments say the LCD is required, but that you can use the HDMI port… I’m using the HDMI port.

Mike, take a look at the new Pi 2 image. It has backward compatibility to the B+ and possibly the B. However, it DOES BREAK touch ability on the LCD screens, due to switching to a newer kernel and some issue with the native drivers. Notro FBTFT handles a good few screens, but I haven’t been able to get touch screen ability back yet. USB keyboard/mouse will work fine, remote access will work fine. Looking for community feedback to fix touch. Let me know if the new image is of any help for your issues! Thanks!

Is there any way to have the windows size to the screen? I’m using the screen you suggested and they run off out of full view making them somewhat unusable. Also, when using VNC viewer and viewing the actual NetPi functionality, the windows (wireshark, zenmap, etc) won’t show in VNC viewer, but instead just open on the Rpi.

Harry… first time I’ve heard of the resizing issue. If you’re talking about just the interfaces for stealth/active/pentest, try maximizing that window if you can access the upper right corner of it. I’ll look into this further. Regarding the VNC/where programs output, that is a known “quirk”. I won’t call it a bug because I initially developed it for that purpose, but since have realized that the display should output to wherever you’re accessing it from. I’m redeveloping the NetPi for this exact purpose and will keep you updated on how to roll in the changes.

Is it possible to swap proposed by you on any other display for example
Ada fruit or of the firm 4Dsystems 4DPi-35 and if you could prepare the image.
Can I donate you in Bitcoin and if so, to what address to send BTC.

Jurek, I can tell you that the new image I just released for the Pi 2 seems to have much more compatibility with other screens as it’s switched over to open drivers (fbtft) instead of a proprietary driver by the JBTek 4in LCD. HOWEVER, it breaks touch screen… so it depends on where your priorities are with this device. I’m working on fixing touch, but it’s been a hard battle that many others are facing as well. No need to send any payments. If you want a custom rolled image for some money, my email is oncall@blamethenetwork.com .

Just tried to boot the Pi2 image and it stopped when it couldn’t find the led of the LCD screen backlight? – that’s when I realized you really meant it when you said the LCD was a required hardware piece.

I don’t have an LCD and my proposed usecase doesn’t need one. I’m not looking for portability at this point. My situation is that I want to connect NetPi to the work LAN/WAN as a shared network analyzer, and access it from any of the other machines on the network via VNC. If I need it to be in stealth mode I will temporarily connect keyboard/mouse/screen to the pi.

I guess you’re busy but could you give us an idea whether you’re planning to do any work in the near future? Or are you holding off until the touch issue is sorted out? My own need does not include the display, so a version that will boot without a display attached would be really useful.

Just wondering if there is any progress on RPi2 and what is the best display to try to use for the least amount of hassle. We have HDMI monitors but would be happy to try to acquire a recommended display.

I do can’t get the gui desktop up connected via hdmi. I have loaded the beta Pi 2 image on my B+ board now and same results. I can get into the terminal fine under tty2 or 6 but nothing on 7. Anyone have and ideas or things I could try

I am not a linux expert but i have both rasberry pi b and a 2 and both versions i cannot seem to get to the desktop. to boot.
startx seems to pull up x.org x server 1.12.4 prompt for debian but then just sits there

ctrl alt f2 give me back a usless blinking cursor and before it does says fatal: Module g2d_23 not found

Could this do a speed test and ping then email me the results? I do modem installs sometimes and without equipment to test them I can’t tell if they work properly. Maybe even a quick run down of a few sites if this device could access them then email me the results? Is it possible to get the dBmV of the modems cable connection also? Not sure if that is even available outside of the DSAM we use.

Jeremy, As of right now the functionality to email results is not included. However the speed test does output it’s results to a log file that can be accessed via a public share hosted by the NetPi. Email reports may be integrated into future releases. Multi-site access would take a bit more customization. I’ll look into how to implement this. Regarding the last portion, unfortunately this would require some additional hardware as the onboard NIC does not support details on that granular of a level.

Hello Syntax Errors, the Netpi project looks fascinating, but I cannot get it to display on Adadfruit PiTFT display. I have tried several process to configure the display however, I have been unsuccessful. I would love the opportunity to work with you on this problem as I am trying to use Netpi to demonstrate the power of the raspberry pi for a college project. You can email at the address I used to post this comment.

Has anyone been able to resolve the HDMI issues yet? I’m getting the exact same issue as the others. Boots up and just shows a flashing cursor. I can ssh into it and have tried the tricks mentioned above but still not working.

[…] that do 10G. However, under the topics of network tools I do have two things to mention. NetPi NetPi – Raspberry Pi Network Analyzer – Blame The Network I thought this was pretty cool that a guy took the time to try and build his own network analyzer. […]

Erica, You are more than welcome to. Be advised though that the Raspberry Pi B/B+ currently are the only board supported unless you want to port things over to the Pi 3… a project I’m working on in my spare time. Most of the utilities provided are only from the command line, minus a few GUI only applications such as DIA. Best of luck with your course work!

I am trying to load this image on a RPi 2 with an Adafruit 3.5 tft. How do I bypass the drivers for the jtek tft, and get it to use the HDMI so I can get it to boot, and install the tft drivers the adafruit tft uses?

Looks like a great tool, can’t wait to actually use it, and check it out.

I was able to get the touch feature working on the Raspberry PI 2 using a waveshare 4 inch LCD. Here is the article I used to get it working. I am still working on fine tuning the collaboration but the touch feature is working.

Thanks so much for this project. I just built a NetPi and everything including the LCD touchscreen worked out of the box with very little configuration. I used the Raspberry Pi B+ board with the Original Image written for the B+. The only configuration that I had to do was to calibrate the touchscreen. I wanted to post a quick update with the parts that I used and current prices for anyone who wants to start this project today, and wants to buy parts that will work without needing to install additional drivers.

Thanks so much for your time on this project. I am really enjoying my low cost Network Tool. I am planning on building another headless unit without the LCD Screen. I would like to set up the USB WiFi Adapter to Access Point Mode. And have the Pi issue DHCP Addresses to the Wireless Network. That way I can connect my phone to the Pi and control it through VNC. I will post the steps later if this works.

I’ve got a Pi3 now to keep building on it. Unfortunately I’m deployed with the military right now so my time and technical abilities are rather limited. I’m going to try and poke at a Pi3 build here soon though, I’ve got quite a few things I’m trying to improve and get it published again. Sorry about the delay!

Hello this seems pretty interesting but I am looking for something that will certify Cat5e and Cat6e will this Netpi program work for what i am looking for if not can you point me in the right direction??